INTERVIEW: Losers
Losers
The Photo Ladies Interview - by Emily May
Photo credit: Ben Madle.
All questions answered by Tom Bellamy.
Sometimes you have to experience the dark to see the light, and for the UK genre-defying band Losers, they have re-emerged from a dark period having found their light. The band was formed in 2007 by Eddie Temple-Morris and Tom Bellamy as a remix project. The addition of guitarist Paul Mullen in 2010 saw the band veer away from dance-oriented music to more guitar-focused rock music and they became hailed by critics for their ability to blend the sounds of indie electronic music and guitar rock. Their music has been used in dozens of TV, film, videogames, and sports placements including Game of Thrones, The Blacklist, Hercules, The Killing, and as the official theme music for BMX Championships London 2012 Olympic Games. Two albums into their career, a desire for inspiration led them to move to Berlin, where they signed a publishing deal with BMG. Although they experienced momentum as a band in their Berlin studio under the production of Bellamy, they found themselves in a downward spiral as a band around the release of their 2016 hit album How To Ruin Other People's Futures. Although the album received critical acclaim, it was a low point for the band. “How To Ruin…was angry and bitter and resentful,” Bellamy explains. “It was a difficult time for us as a band and the music naturally reflected that. After pain comes transformation and so our music transformed with us. We allowed light to come in and the music began to have a completely different energy. If How to Ruin…was pig-headed and enraged in a corner, our new music looks to the world with open arms, embracing the entire spectrum, confident and composed.” In February of this year, the band released their cover of the Tears For Fears hit "Shout", giving it a more somber and dark sound. “All three of us are huge fans of Tears for Fears and "Shout" is just a classic,” says multi-instrumentalist Tom Bellamy. The song was prominently featured in the hit TV show A Discovery of Witches (S2: Ep 4) on Amazon Prime, AMC+, Sundance Now, and Shudder. “After the last album [2016’s critically-acclaimed How To Ruin Other People's Futures], we felt it would be creatively rewarding to deconstruct some of our favourite songs. We found that this was a great way to learn about how other people make music, to absorb some of their ideas and in turn help us to develop our own songwriting. We went back to school!” The darkness and pain that they have experienced as a band have given way to enormous growth and transformation, with their songs sounding more expansive and balanced than in the past. With big plans and new tracks plotted for release throughout the year, Losers are ready to regain their position at the forefront of the alternative rock world. “We grew up a bit, took some time to reflect and we wrote enough songs to realize that we were more eclectic than ever and that was a pleasant challenge for us to have," says Bellamy. “We want to take our fans on an interactive, genre-bending audio-visual expedition via new and innovative platforms which we hope to announce soon. We will be setting up live performances from the studio, ‘behind the music’ studio breakdowns, and giving away remix stems amongst other things to make sure we reward our fans after such a long time away. Very exciting times ahead indeed.” They most recently released their latest single "Lost In Translation", about reconnecting to ourselves and the world around us. “Life can feel so lonely when we see other people and things as separate to ourselves, trying to escape from something that didn’t exist until we created it,” says Bellamy about their new single." "The track is about feeling not at home, no matter where you are or who you’re with, but then realizing that home is within. It’s not until we step back and see ourselves as not separate from the world, but in union with it, in love with it, that we can really see beauty. It’s so important to remember to pause and not to dwell on the negative narratives we all tell ourselves.” With plans to perform their live shows as a 2-piece going forward and work to maintain the new momentum they are building, Losers have shown they are back and ready to dive headfirst into their new music and innovative fan experiences. Losers are DJ Eddy Temple-Morris, multi-instrumentalist Tom Bellamy, and guitarist Paul Mullen. You can connect with Losers via the following links.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | iTunes/Apple Music | YouTube | Bandcamp
Losers was formed in 2007 and evolved from dance-oriented music to a guitar rock sound when Paul joined in 2010. Having always been fans of bands who "reinvent the wheel" and push the envelope in terms of their sound, what has driven your evolving sound as a band over the years?
What drives us is our passion for music. The joy of experimenting with sounds we’ve never used before and put together different combinations of instruments to create new soundscapes. We still get such a buzz from creating. It’s highly addictive!
After releasing your first 2 albums, you made the decision to move to Berlin to be more inspired and signed with BMG Germany. What can you tell me about that decision to move to and live in Berlin and what inspired you the most about the city? What can you tell me about your Berlin studio?
Living in London simply wasn’t sustainable for us. Berlin was affordable and of course, it was full of new inspiration. The electronic scene definitely had an impact on us. We didn’t go to clubs much but it’s everywhere you go. It just soaks into your veins. Our studio is in a high-rise building on the outskirts. It’s home to probably around 200 studios and rehearsal rooms. It’s incredibly inspiring. There’s never a quiet moment. If you pop your head out the window you get techno mixed with classical mixed with psychedelic rock mixed with opera. It’s amazing.
You experienced a tough couple of years as a band around the time of your third album, How To Ruin Other People's Futures, which led to a metamorphosis for the band. In what ways did the pain and difficulty of that time lead to the transformation of the band and your music? What has it been like for you to let the light in and give new energy to your music?
We live our music. It’s a blessing and a curse. I often say that pain is also another word for growth and we had a lot of growing to do. I personally got too attached to an image of myself that I don't want to let go of. The pain is in the "not wanting to let go". Anyway, we shed some skin and we came out the other side feeling a lot more positive, focused, and energized. It had a huge impact on how we addressed our new songs.
Your music has been featured often in television, film, video games, and sports placements. What has that been like for you as a band and do you have any other opportunities coming up?
We’re incredibly grateful to have had our music synced to visuals so many times. It’s quite unbelievable. The best part was that we never wrote for that purpose, we just wrote for ourselves and music supervisors just liked what they heard. It meant that we could pay for our studio costs and stay afloat during a time when the music industry was crippling for musicians in terms of making money from selling records. There always seem to be opportunities ahead.
In February of this year, you released your cover of Tears For Fears "Shout", with the thought that it would be creatively rewarding to deconstruct some of your favorite songs. You've said it was a great way to learn about how other people make music, absorb some of their ideas, and to help you develop your own songwriting. What did you learn in the process? What inspired your darker take on the song and what can you tell me about having the song featured in the show A Discovery of Witches?
"Shout" is an epic song. It’s full of ideas but when you break it down you realize you can take lots of the elements away and give the essence of the song even more presence. It shows the strength of a great song when you can just take the vocal and put it with a simple piano or guitar part and it still sounds great. That’s essentially what we did. I wouldn’t say our version is dark but it is stirring. I find it very emotional. That just came in the moment from the energy in the room. We were honoured to have it used in A Discovery of Witches.
You most recently released your new single "Lost In Translation", which you've described as a reaction to feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from the world around you. What can you tell me about the song and what it means to you? How did you come to feel a sense of union and connection with the world around you rather than feeling separate from it? What effect do you feel Covid has had on the way in which you, and the world in general, have felt connected to others and the world?
I’ve been reading lots of books about consciousness and spirituality. Listening to people like Ram Dass or Thich Nhat Hanh, they helped me to understand some of the negative thought processes I had been having. As humans, we inherently need to connect, but most importantly we need to connect to ourselves. Covid was a good opportunity to look within when the outside world was so chaotic. I think everyone is yearning for connection and hopefully, there will be an explosion of that soon.
You have said that you usually write the music for your songs first and then the words, but for "Lost In Translation", the words came first. Having tried 3 different versions of the music, what was your process like for finding the right music to accompany the words and what led you to settle on the music you did?
Sometimes everything comes together in a day. You can write, arrange and produce the music and lyrics in a whirlwind and it almost took no thought or energy. Then there are other songs like this that take time to sculpt. That’s just the way it goes. After trying various other styles of music, this version just felt right. Music is a feeling. There’s no right or wrong. It’s all about vibe.
How do you feel that working with long time collaborators such as Damian Taylor and Dan Austin has expanded your sound and given it a new sense of balance?
Those guys are both legends. They do things with our productions that blow our minds. We’re incredibly lucky to have them on board. We know our limits as mixers and these guys just have the skills to take music to an incredibly high level.
You have said you will be releasing new music on a regular basis throughout the year. What inspired your decision to release music as a stream of tracks rather than as an album?
To us, everything about releasing songs individually makes sense to us. From a creative point of view and also from a consumer point of view. We can be more in the moment and we can be more reactive and more adaptable. There’s less downtime and there’s more momentum. It’s a win win for both us and our fans.
Going forward, you have revealed plans to focus on an interactive & genre-bending audio-visual experience via new and innovative platforms. One such experience is your new Behind The Music Series Webinar. What can you tell me about the idea behind the webinar and what fans can expect? What other experiences do you have planned?
The idea for the webinars was to give fans an insight into our world. I used to love listening to producers go through mixes on a desk. I wanted to do the same and maybe inspire someone else. It’s an opportunity to connect on a deeper level with our fans. We will also be releasing a live track every 6 weeks and a playlist of songs that inspired the track.
What led you to decide to make the live band a 2-piece going forward? What can people expect from future live shows?
We wanted something new. We’d done the whole 5-piece band thing but it felt like for the new sound, a stripped-back live setup was the way forward. We’re going to be making complete reworking of our songs in order to make a cohesive live set that will get people dancing. We wanna party :-)
You guys have been rejuvenated by a new perspective after a difficult era as a band and have a busy 2021 planned and a clean slate! What can you tell me about your new perspective and your goals as a band going forward?
We want to spread some joy and positivity. It’s time to connect, even if for now that’s through a computer.
What's next for you?
I’m going to have a cup of tea and then continue chipping away at this mammoth campaign we’ve set out for ourselves.